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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump on Monday met with his Secretary of Homeland Security and other officials to discuss issues related to border security, while a partial government shutdown on his US-Mexican border wall entered Christmas without a clear solution in sight.
Although both sides have made progress on money, they are not moving against the wall. The White House insisted that Trump would reject any deal not including money for a wall or fence; Democrats have remained steadfast in their opposition to a wall or other physical barrier.
"Nothing new. Nothing new at the closing. Nothing new. Except we need border security, "Trump told the press during his phone conversation with children who wanted to know when Santa would arrive home.
In a joint statement, Senator Chuck, Democrat Congressman Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi stated that as long as Trump continued to listen to the House Freedom Caucus and other members of the right flank, the stalemate would not be easy to solve.
"It's Christmas Eve and President Trump plunges the country into chaos," they said, pointing to problems beyond the market's closure, including the stock market crash and the dismissal of his Secretary of Defense by the President. "The president wanted closure, but he seems not to know how to get out of it."
The White House presented a counter-offer to Schumer over the weekend, budget director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday. Mulvaney would say only that the offer was between the $ 5.7 billion requested by Trump and the $ 1.3 billion proposed by the Democrats.
An unnamed Democratic assistant to discuss private talks confirmed that the White House had offered $ 2.5 billion – an initial $ 2.1 billion plus $ 400 million "Crate Fund" for the president's other immigration priorities
Mulvaney said he was waiting for a response from Schumer. Schumer's office stated that the parties remained "far apart".
Trump came in from the White House, where he has been locked since the closure began Saturday morning.
"I'm all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and reach a border security agreement they desperately need," he tweeted. "At some point, the Democrats who do not want to reach an agreement will cost our country more money than the border wall we all talk about. Crazy!
Trump postpones his plan to go to his Florida estate for Christmas. His wife, the first lady, Melania Trump, returned from Florida to spend the holidays with him.
ASSOCIATE PRESS
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other department officials told White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the border security meeting of the president on Monday.
Senate negotiators continued their behind-the-scenes discussions with Democrats and Republicans. The House and Senate briefly went into session on Christmas Eve, before closing without further action.
In their statement, Pelosi and Schumer stated that "different people from the same White House are saying different things about what the president would accept or not. agree to end his Trump stop, making it impossible to know where they are at any given time. "
Trump blamed the Democrats for deadlock, tweeting Monday:" Virtually all the Democrats we deal with today have strongly supported a wall or a border fence. It was only when I made an important part of my campaign, because people and drugs poured out of control in our country, that they objected. We desperately need!
However, an AP Fact Check investigation revealed that arrests in the United States on the Mexican border jumped 78% in November, compared to the Trump presidential summit. The increase in the number of arrests indicates that more and more people are trying to cross the border illegally.
Several departments and Cabinet bodies have been closed since Saturday after the end of their funding. Hundreds of thousands of federal officials across the country have been affected by the closure, which should last at least until Thursday when the House and Senate meet again.
Mulvaney had predicted that the closure could last until January, when Democrats should control the country.
Trump on Monday laid off federal employees and statutory holidays, which means Wednesday is the first day the public could feel the effects of the loss of government services, Mulvaney said.
Meanwhile, 800,000 federal employees were about to be disrupted.
More than half of critical employees, including US Secret Service agents and Security Security Administration agents, are required to work without pay, but retroactive pay is provided. Another 380,000 were to be released, which means they will not show up for work but will also be paid later. Legislation guaranteeing that workers receive back wages should be released by Congress.
Trump promised during the campaign to build a border wall and charge Mexico. Mexico refused.
Progress in funding the Wall has been slow and Trump sees the last days of complete congressional control by the GOP as his last chance to force debate. But some Republicans also oppose the construction of a wall.
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